The ramblings of a neonatal nurse about what she and her family does during their down time.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Time Keeps Slipping Away

And yes, that seems to be my go to excuse lately. What it comes down to is now that I'm working every weekend I need to pick a different day to dedicate to blogging so that I can make sure I can get in at least one post a week.

It's not as if nothing is going on right now. After all, there is my crafting (coming later in the post) and there is also the fact that we have new pets!

Yes, new pets. For those of you that know us, rest assured these are pets that can remain in the house (let's not discuss the failed cat and dog attempts).

I tried to do a photo shoot with the new pets today but Fynn just laughed at me as he sped by:

And Jasper did not appreciate the attempts, coming towards me in a threatening manner making a mokery of my focusing skills:Yes, the new pets are all aquarium dwellers in a new small little tank on top of our bar counter. I say new, Chad's had it up and running for a month now because our big tank is just to cumbersome for the current layout of the house.

And it seems the impromptu photo shoot I had on the day of their arrival faired better.

First, you see Cooper - our Fire Fish hiding at the bottom of the rocks:

He's the shiest of the group. But he peeked out a little more as Fynn swam by:

And even became more daring as Fynn wondered what his problem could be:Next you have Ryder:He's a Cardinal fish that typically seems like he's just floating there, riding whatever current he has found. Even when he's moving it doesn't look like he's moving at all.

And you've already been introduced to Jasper, our tenacious shrimp:Hanging upside down seems to be his favorite pass time when he's not searching for food. He even sleeps upside down.

And a shot from the back of the tank with most of the group visible:

But if that wasn't enough we have one more inhabitant who stowed away on the rocks when Chad got them and has only recently shown himself. His name is Aloysius (guess who picked that name) and he's tiny but I hope he will grow:You may have a hard time spotting him in that picture. He's on the reddish/purplish rock.

Still can't see him? I've highlighted the area he's in for you here:

(The only spot of color) Yes, Aloysius is a starfish! Sometimes I can find him, sometimes I can't. But this is one fast moving starfish and I have a hard time keeping up with him.

It really is a pretty tank. Chad's done a really good job with it. Who knows, maybe in a few more months we'll get more residents to keep the group company?

In crafting news - I'm still having my ups and downs.

I was feeling pretty good as I had all my pieces (backing, batting, and top) spread out for pin basting on the floor:

I even went ahead and trimmed off some of the excess backing at that point because I didn't want it to be too unwieldy to handle at the machine.

But the actual quilting is truly becoming a learning experience. It looks nice enough from a distance:But getting up close I see I have a lot to learn. The back is not at all taught with lots of wrinkles that will remain unless they come out when washed as I've already taken out and redone rows of stitching.

And how I became this off to have this bump when stitching I still haven't figured out:

And due to the small problems I had with making the top (squaring it up) I am not keeping nice straight lines:

But this is a learning project, and some of this mistakes may be taken out in the wash. So, after I decide how to close the gaps and do a little more quilting to it (to keep the batting together I need to stitch for smaller areas or else I'll end up with lumps and bumps inside the quilt) I'll press on and start binding.

In the meantime, I'll just admire the cross stitch my mother did for my aunt that I have now acquired:Actually, it came home with me a few months ago and I'm just now getting to put the picture of it on here. She may not have time for crafting now, but I definitely come by it honestly.

Well, now it's off to bed with me. I've got a meeting to run and teaching to plan for the dojo tomorrow night!